GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Coming off their best seasons in around a decade, the Colorado Mesa University men's and women's tennis teams will begin the 2025-26 campaign at this weekend's Colorado College Invitational at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs.

Action in the individual style singles and doubles draws will begin at 8 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Follow the Mavs

Results and the draws for the tournament throughout the weekend can be found through the UTR website at this link.  - https://app.utrsports.net/events/327322?t=2.

It is worth nothing that the players' hometowns are listed on the website, not the schools they represent.

Recaps will also be posted on www.cmumavericks.com.

Who's playing

The Mavericks and 21st-year head coach Dan MacDonald are sending nine women and eight men to play in the singles tournament, which will be broken into "A" and "B" draws.  The Mavericks will also have four doubles duos in the men's and women's draws.

The complete listing of Maverick players and planned doubles pairings can be found below.

Men's Singles Entries (8)
Luke Burriesci
Emil Hultman
Gavin Hutter
William Leschig
Diogo Manzano
Romain Payan
Jamison Pfingston
Henry Scheck

Men's Doubles Pairings (4)
Burriesci/Hutter
Hultman/Manzano
Leschig/Scheck
Manzano/Hultman

Women's Singles Entries (9)
Catalina Ballon
Jade Brilhante
Valentina Gonzalez
Sophie Hartman
Delia Maier
Taylor Nokes
Devyn Rodriguez
Keelin Sills

Women's Doubles Entries (4)
Ballon/Gonzalez
Brilhante/Rodriguez
Hartman/Maier
Nokes/Sills

The Opponents

The Mavericks will be part of the tournament field that also includes four teams from two different NCAA divisions.  CSU Pueblo, which only sponsors a women's team, and Western New Mexico will  join the Mavs in representing NCAA Division II while the host Colorado College Tigers will represent NCAA Division III.

A look back to 2024-25

The Maverick women posted a 17-13 overall team record, their best since 2014, and won their first two Pacific West Conference Tournament matches in their 5-year tenure as affiliate members of the conference while taking seventh in that tournament.

The Maverick men went 13-10 as a team, enjoying their best season since 2016 and were in the ITA's NCAA Division II National Rankings throughout the spring, ending the campaign ranked 43^rd in the country.

Plenty returning

Both Maverick teams return all but one regular starter from their rosters from a year ago.

On the men's side, the Mavs return both Henry Scheck and William Leschig, who split time in the No. 1 and 2 singles positions.  They also earned Third Team All-PacWest honors as a doubles duo.

Romain Payan also returns after posting a winning 15-13 overall and 12-10 dual record in the No. 3 and 4 spots.  Emil Hultman is also back after leading the Mavericks in overall singles wins (18), while going 15-6 in duals, including a 14-4 mark at No. 5.

Regular No. 6 starters Diogo Manzano and Jamison Pfingston are also back.

On the women's side, the Mavs will have to replace 4-year program standout Makenna Livingston, but have the rest of their regular starting lineup back.  Devyn Rodriguez, who played at No. 2 singles behind Livingston and Jade Brilhante will be expected to lead that group along with seniors Delia Maier and Jane Steur.   Catalina Ballon also enjoyed a strong freshman campaign, which saw her go 11-9 at No. 5 singles.

Rodriguez and Brilhante also earned third team all-conference honors as a doubles tandem last spring.

New Faces

The Mavericks have also welcomed in some new talent to further supplement the roster.

The Maverick women have added three freshman in Valentina Gonzalez, a highly touted junior player from Guayaquil, Ecuador and Colorado high school products Sophie Hartman of Fossil Ridge High School and Keelin Sills of Pine Creek High School.  Both earned second team all-state honors in their prep careers.

The Maverick men have added two newcomers in transfer Gavin Hutter and freshman Daniel Blanch.  Hutter earned second team all-conference honors in doubles at the NCAA Division III level at Bethel (Minn.).  Blanch advanced to the finals of the 4A state championship tournament at No. 1 singles last fall while at Vail Christian High School.

Independent Path

After spending the last five years as affiliate members of the Pacific West Conference last season, the Mavericks will play as NCAA Division II independents in 2025-26.  With that change, the Mavericks will also return to the South Central Region for NCAA Tournament selection purposes and will fight against Lone Star Conference teams for at-large selection.

However, the Mavericks will still see their former PacWest rivals this fall while competing in the ITA West Regional Championships, which will conclude a brief, but jam-packed month of September fall tennis.

A look ahead

Following this weekend's event, the Mavericks teams will split apart for Sept. 12-13 action as the men will head to Topeka, Kansas for the Washburn Invitational while the CMU women will make a shorter trip to Pueblo, Colorado for a trio of duals on the same days against CSU Pueblo, Fort Hays State and Colorado College.

The Maverick squads will then have the following weekend off before wrapping up the fall at the ITA West Regional Championships in La Mirada, California from Sept. 25-27.

Coach Dan MacDonald has not yet announced his team's spring season schedule, which typically begins in early February.